The government has given its assurance that all obligations, acquisitions and national expenditures related to vaccines and the national COVID-19 immunisation programme will be carried out even post-Emergency Ordinance.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who is also Coordinating Minister for Malaysia’s National Recovery Plan, said it is important to ensure the continuity of the vaccination programme for the people.
“I hope all quarters can cooperate to ensure the success of the NRP. We need a ‘whole of nation’ approach, whereby apart from the government, the private sector and the people have their roles to play,”
With the Emergency Ordinance now rescinded, the programs initiated during the EO will have to brought to parliament and discussed with the rest of the members. They will be subjected to scrutiny with some could be tabled to vote when it reconvenes in September.
Separately the Finance Minister revealed that the government is discussing with the National Security Council on the possibility of opening economic sectors to those who have completed their vaccination this was further confirmed by the Prime Minister when he stated that an announcement will be made very soon.
This come of the news that reopening or transitioning to recovery phase will no longer be associated with daily cases but other methods and data and developments.
Despite cases hitting an all time overall, the accelerated vaccination process is giving the country bright spots on recovery. States that had reached herd immunity are seeing drastic reduction in cases and these are signs that show vaccination is the key for Malaysia to unlock itself from this lockdown. The minister pleaded for all the ministries and government machinery to focus on the same milestone for the recovery to be successful. “We need to find a balance between the economy and health in a short period of time” he added.
Underlining three main factors for the success of the National Recoery Plan, the first factor is better coordination among the ministries, especially issues regarding standard operating procedures (SOPs), vaccination, ICU capacity and also fiscal and non-fiscal support by the government. Secondly, the involvement of various quarters, including industry experts and state representatives such as those from Sabah and Sarawak in sharing ideas and expertise. And thirdly the need to do close monitoring based on ‘live data’ which is more stable and effective.
